


Without Them

by J93



Series: Mistletoe Tales [8]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, F/F, F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 03:52:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12950724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J93/pseuds/J93
Summary: Connie faces the worst Christmas imaginable but he doesn't have to bare it alone.





	Without Them

Connie sat on the couch, highlighting in the TV Guide the shows and films playing tomorrow and throughout the New Year. He picked up the remote and began to flick trek through the various channels, selecting the film or TV show to record on the box. On BBC1 he set up _The Avengers_ and _Die Hard_ on ITV3. He was halfway through the Guide and saw a current showing of _The Princess Bride_ and selected it to watch. The adverts were on, so he did what he always did and muted it. He sunk back on the couch and watched the mindless consumerist flash crap everyone always saw leading up to Christmas.

Connie wasn’t a fan of Christmas for many reasons, this being one of them. He’d rather be helping Sasha out with the shopping, his other festive pet-peeve, but she _insisted_ on doing it herself. He sat there silently, listening to the burning embers pop and tick. He felt a shiver prick his back. His gaze floated back to see if the film had started yet but instead he saw another advert begin only this one caught his attention. He had no idea what it was about and was less inclined to find out.

It showed a typical family gathers at the table for Christmas dinner. The father carried the turkey through, the mother dished out the big dinner plates and all three kids looked excited as they pulled their crackers and wore their shitty red and green hats. It ended with the mother dishing out smaller plates and serving chocolate pudding. For the first time in months it brought him back; sitting there with his two younger siblings and his parents eating turkey and reading out the dumb jokes from the cheap crackers Mom got from Pound Land. Followed later by stuffing their faces full with Dad’s homemade pudding and laying back the chairs in bliss.

They were wonderful memories but they were all sad ones now. They were all gone, except for him. He was away with friends when whoever barged into the house and had the whole family lined up in their living room and filled with a hundred lead bullets. When he came home, the house was almost unrecognizable on the inside. Blood spatter on the walls, every furniture upturned and ripped apart, and an eerie quietness the likes of which this house had never produced before.

The door opened and in came his girlfriend and savior carrying three bags full on each hand. She went through to the kitchen and started unpacking. “Sorry, I'm late. Traffic is a nightmare. I think there was an accident. Not sure. Oh well, I got most of everything. They were out of Sticky Toffee Pudding. I’ll try that new store near Ymir’s house. Which reminds me I’ll see if she approves of what I'm getting for her bae. I'm sure she would I don’t see her not getting the joke.” She went quiet all of a sudden and by the rustling sound and her giggling, she was setting up a joke. “Hey Connie look what I… found.”

Connie saw her standing at the door holding mistletoe in her left hand but wasn't what puzzled him. She looked at him concerned, her lips partially open and her eyes homing in on him. “Are you alright Con?” she asked quietly.

He knew why she asked. His cheek was tickled by the lone stream falling down a side of his face. He wiped it away but it was replaced by another on the opposite. It was a futile effort, the whole thing. He thought he could handle it. He thought he was ready and could get through this entire week without getting emotional. He thought he was ready for such a task given his track record.

He thought wrong.

Sasha sat next to him, putting her arm across his shoulders as he lay his head under her chin. He quietly sucked in and out his shaky breaths as she rubbed his back like a baby.

“I'm sorry-”

“You have nothing to be sorry about Con. We both knew this would happen.” She kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear. “Just let it out. Let it all out.”

“I just… I want them… I just wished they were here…”

“They _are_ here Connie. They will always be here with you so long as you let them be.”

It took a while for him to settle. After five minutes he insisted she leave him to deal with the shopping. Hesitantly she did and soon after he came through and helped put the frozen foods out into the freezer. He was quiet but not shy in telling her how he felt. She was his savior and he needed her help in getting through this together.


End file.
